Blazin' Blue Jays: Hottest Team in Baseball

Toronto Blue Jays have not made a postseason since 1993 winning their second straight World Series crown. Since 1993, their only second place finish in the American League East was 2006, but they did not come even close to making the Wild Card as Detroit won 95 games while Toronto only had 87. It appeared like in 2013, this team was ready for a revival.

They made a controversial mega-deal that brought in Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson from Miami and R.A. Dickey in free agency after a Cy Young award winning year.  It didn't happen with Toronto only winning 74 games and being one of the most disappointing teams of the year. Fast forward to 2014 where Toronto has won their last eight games with winning eleven out of their last 13 games and the hottest team in baseball with a three-game advantage over the New York Yankees.  How did the Blue Jays become one of the hottest teams in baseball?

One way is Edwin Encaranacion's red-hot May where he has hit 14 home runs with 10 homers in his last 10 days. He is trailing Baltimore Orioles outfielder Nelson Cruz by one dinger, but he will without question be the American League Player of the Month. Encarancion is having a great three year stretch with hitting 40+ home runs in 2012 and hitting .280 being near the top of all offensive categories. He followed up in 2013 with his first All-Star appearance, and it looks like Encarancion might be starting when it comes to Minnesota this summer. As ESPN's David Schoenfield pointed out, he pulls the ball pretty good, but the numbers show he is more than just a pull home run hitter.

Another major reason is Melky Cabrera is having another All-Star worthy-type season. Let's cut all the bullshit about the PED's because this is not the time for the conversation. He is hitting .322, 70 hits with eight home runs. He is only second to Houston's Jose Altuve in all of baseball when it comes to hits. Cabrera is doing it mostly by hitting singles with only 32 percent of Cabrera's hits were for extra bases. He adds a player on the basepath for Jose Bautista and Encarancion as he usually bats second in the order providing them with more opportunities.  It seems like Cabrera has returned to his 2 form and at his young age, 29, he might be just reaching his full potential. But the combination of his hitting with the power of  Bautista and Encarancion makes this team scary.

The crazy thing with Toronto is they really haven't got much from their pitching staff minus Buehrle whose having a solid season with a 2.33 ERA with a league-leading nine wins although let's not focus on that rather his ability to keep opponents at bay. Other than one bad start against Boston, Buehrle allowed 13 runs in his eleven starts this season. That's pretty impressive and even 19 runs (Six runs against the Red Sox included) in eleven starts is not shabby whatsoever. Buehrle is one of those guys whom sort of gets forgotten. He has been a steady, good pitcher for most of his career, but he never is one of the best in the big leagues. Good to see he is getting some credit for his strong year.

Also worth noting is the strong May Dickey has had for Toronto. He started the month with an ERA at 5.05, and he will likely finish the month with run lower right now at 3.95 barring his final start of the month against Kansas City on Thursday night. Dickey dealt against Oakland going eight strong innings giving up two runs. Some of Dickey's problems do not even start with him as his defense really hasn't helped him this season with a multitude of unearned runs. If Toronto can start building a solid one-two pitch with Buehrle-Dickey plus young pitcher Drew Hutchinson continues to develop, the Jays have enough there to be a contender all season.

Blue Jays have made it the Year of Toronto from the Raptors second round playoff appearance to Rob Ford to Drake. If the Jays keep winning, we will be seeing both Drake and Ford sitting in the front row. The North apparently doesn't stop in the summer.

Charlie.